Ian Bailey in court over ‘drug driving’
Murder suspect allegedly had cannabis in his system
IAN Bailey, who is currently fighting extradition to France following his conviction for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, has appeared in court on drug charges.
Mr Bailey appeared before Bantry District Court charged with four offences after he was stopped by gardaí in Schull, west Cork, in August 2019.
Mr Bailey, 62, of the Prairie, Liscaha, Schull, is charged with possession of cannabis on August 25, 2019. He is also charged with driving his car with cannabis in his body and with possession of cannabis in Bantry Garda Station.
Judge Carol Anne Coolican directed that a statement of means be submitted to court after Bailey applied for free legal aid.
He was stopped in Schull on August 25 and was arrested after he failed a roadside sobriety test.
He was arrested for suspected drink-driving and taken to Bantry Garda Station where he passed the electronic alcohol test.
A sample of blood was taken and he was charged with cannabis possession.
The 62-year-old journalist and poet was found guilty in absentia by a court in France last year of the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier, a French filmmaker, near her holiday home near Schull in December 1996.
An extradition hearing is set to be heard on May 5.
Mr Bailey successfully fought two previous attempts by the authorities in France to extradite him to the country.
He also unsuccessfully sued newspapers for allegedly defaming him, and gardaí for allegedly trying to frame him.
He lodged a complaint with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) in early 2012 regarding his treatment by gardaí investigating Ms Toscan du Plantier’s murder.
The GSOC report indicated grave issues of concern but said there was no evidence to suggest Mr Bailey was framed or that evidence was falsified by gardaí.
The report revealed that 22 exhibits in relation to the case can no longer be located. These include a blood-spattered gate taken from close to where the body of the French national was found, a wine bottle found in a field next to the scene and a black overcoat belonging to Mr Bailey.
Ms Toscan du Plantier, 39, was murdered at her holiday home at Toormore, near Schull, in the early hours of December 23, 1996.
Her battered body was found in a laneway near her cottage.
She is survived by her parents and her son Pierre.
Her husband, filmmaker Daniel
Toscan du Plantier, died in 2003 without seeing justice done in the investigation into the murder of his wife.
Her holiday home had served as a quiet retreat from a high-profile life in France where she was a well-known filmmaker.
She loved the rugged coastal surroundings in west Cork, describing Toormore as her spiritual home.
Gardaí twice arrested Mr Bailey for questioning about the murder. No-one has ever been charged in connection with the killing, and Mr Bailey vehemently denies any suggestion of involvement in her death.
A sample of blood was taken